In the small world of minor league football, it’s considered a model franchise. The Packers or the Steelers of the semipro circuit.

Heck, the team didn’t lose a home game between 1995 and 2007. Its 37-year-old quarterback is the Brett Favre of the sport.

One of its immense, immovable offensive lineman is 42 and has played more than 200 games. The team’s speedy linebacker hails from North Carolina University and came a hair’s breadth from playing pro in Canada.

This Saturday night in Allentown, the Piranha will vie for their second championship since 2005 and their sixth all-time.

That’s the same number of Lombardi trophies crowding the Pittsburgh Steelers’ trophy case.

But the minor league trophy has no such iconic name. In fact, it has no name at all.

And its championship game is a far cry from the Super Bowl. Organizers are crossing their fingers that contest against the New Jersey Lions will attract 1,000 fans.

Football might be America’s most popular sport, but the minor league version hasn’t caught on beyond a small but loyal cult following.

Average attendance at Piranha home games, held at East Pennsboro Area High School, hovers between 300 and 500 fans.

The team’s unassuming owner, Ron Kerr, is a former player and assistant coach. The Carlisle sheriff’s deputy practically had the team handed to him in 2006 when no one else wanted to take it over.

Kerr’s wife and daughter comprise the organization’s staff. They do everything from taking tickets and pouring sodas to washing uniforms.

As Kerr’s wife, Michelle, says, family members make for great minor league football employees because you don’t have to pay them.

Kerr does take care of his players.

The team foots the bill for uniforms and equipment — costs other teams pass onto players. An athletic trainer is present at all practices and games, and the team picks up the tab for tape and other medical and training supplies.

Still, if a player blows out a knee, requires surgery or suffers any other serious injury, he’s on his own in terms of health insurance.

Still, they come.

From all over the midstate, across Pennsylvania and as far away as New Jersey, Maryland and northern Virginia — easily filling out the team’s 60-man roster and then some.

Some players join up right out of high school. Others come after playing football in college — the Kutztowns, the Shippenburgs, the Lock Havens, but a few from Temple and North Carolina.

The common denominator is an inability to cleanse football from their blood and a driving desire to discover how much they have left in the tank.

“This is for the guys that didn’t make it to the next level,” explains assistant coach and former player Billy McDaniel of Steelton. “They can show they can do something.”

They’re men with day jobs and dreams.

“I love football,” says 26-year-old Jarred Burns of Lititz, Lancaster County. “We do it just to play. We’re not getting paid. Nike isn’t knocking on our door. It’s just about playing football.”

So, the 300-plus-pound offensive lineman operates heavy equipment by day and drives oversized defensive linemen out of the way of his offense on Saturday nights.

Nearly 10 players carpool twice a week from Philadelphia. The 250- to 300-plus-pound players disgorge from a couple of compact cars. They do this to save on gas.

Stalwart offensive lineman Christopher Stanley led the exodus from Philly. He played for minor league teams there, but they’d always get beat by the team from Harrisburg. So why not join them?

Others followed.

Coaches shake their heads in amazement at the depth of the Piranha’s talent.

“You can be a backup here, or you can go over there and start,” Kerr says. “We don’t hand out starting positions just because. You’ve got to earn it.”

The Piranha have set a standard of excellence. Yet almost no one outside of the organization knows about it.

Kerr plows most of the money back into the team. He wants the uniforms to look sharp. Refs need to be paid. There’s rent on the field to cover.

“We struggle to get our name out there,” Kerr admits. “We pray for a good gate just to pay for next week’s expenses.”

More often than not, Kerr finds himself dipping into the family savings account to keep the team going.

The best advertising is witnessing a game.

Michelle Kerr, who hails from a soccer family, now bleeds nothing but football. Piranha players call her “Mom.”

And nearly every time she encounters a new fan while working the gate or dishing out hot dogs from the concession, their astonished reactions are strikingly similar.

“People say things like, ‘I didn’t realize it was real football. The players are so big!’¤” Michelle recounts. “Once you come, you get hooked.”

Then, the magic happens.

With regular season tickets $7 and less, entire families can afford to go. And youngsters can get up close and personal with the players.

Often, the kids gawk wide-eyed at the big bodies right in front of them. Awe overtakes their features, and a transformation occurs.

The Central Penn Piranha (15-0) and New Jersey Lions (12-3) will play Saturday for the Major League Football championship. Kickoff is 8 p.m. at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown. General admission is $10. 

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